


Like Stars in the Sky

by JustCallMeLogan



Series: Jay and I [1]
Category: Cartoon Therapy (Web Series), Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Real World, Attempted Murder, Blood and Violence, Character Death, Cyberbullying, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Kidnapping, Light Bondage, M/M, Mild S&M, Murder, Original Character(s), Other, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, RPG, Sex, Sexting, Sexual Roleplay, Stalking, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, Swearing, Twitterfic, What is this story?, drugs and alcohol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:53:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22298902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustCallMeLogan/pseuds/JustCallMeLogan
Summary: Once upon a time, Roman Prince was dating Virgil Storm… it was never peachy. Between fights, classes, and work, the lives of Roman, Virgil, and their friends are completely flipped upside down when the almighty Twitter goes from being Roman's kingdom to his enemy. He wants to blame Remus at first, but things quickly spiral out of control from one year to the next, as their enemies become old grudges from the past and new threats here in the present.On the other hand, the friends are already growing up and apart from families and childhood and from each other. Worrying about the future has become a top priority for everyone. For some, it's a matter of getting their final degree; for others it's a shining, distant dream stretching further and further away...So, this story is based off of a role-playing story a friend of mine (Jay Reid (@NonbinaryPal2)) and I are writing on Twitter about the Sides. It's very dark, goes in many directions, and has no proper ending yet, but the story stays with the boys the entire time. Please take every tag and warning seriously, I did not write them lightly and more will be added as I think of them. Anything NSFW will be marked so, don't worry.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Deceit Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders/Deceit Sanders, Dr. Emile Picani & Sleep | Remy Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders
Series: Jay and I [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1605100
Comments: 3
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter I, Part One: Do It Yourself!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman and Virgil fight, and when Virgil challenges Roman to have sex, they both realize this is going to be a long, crazy night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just some swears and undressing, nothing to worry about yet.

Chapter I, Part One: Do It Yourself!

Once upon a time, in the mystical world of Willow Village, New Jersey, Roman Prince was dating Virgil Storm…

“Fuck you.”

“‘Fuck _me’?!_ ” Roman exclaimed as Virgil stood up to leave. “Storm Cloud—”

“Don’t _‘Storm Cloud’_ me!”

“—I’m trying to have a serious conversation and you keep brushing me off!”

Well, it was never _peachy_.

Virgil rounded on him. “Saying you’re ‘surprised they're not fucking on the floor behind us’ is not having a serious discussion,” he clarified. For some reason, once Roman had turned twenty-three, he suddenly had this “I’m actually an adult now”-complex where apparently everyone was entitled to his opinion. Like now! Roman keeps making a bigger deal out of all of this than it really is. See, Remus and Dee and had stumbled upstairs, slammed a door, and tumbled into bed somewhere in the house just now. It was awkward, sure, but he didn’t need to pretend that they aren’t used to Ree and Dee being awful, or that they don’t do the same thing when they make out when no one else is around. “And you just said ‘oh, glad to know you’re so nonchalant about sex’ just to be a dick!” At times, Roman was so handsome and awful that his face, with those beautiful green eyes, and his perfect, Princey smile, seemed perfectly punch-able. Of course, Virgil would never actually hurt him. Swat at him, bite him, or tickle him into submission, maybe, but never hurt him. _Charming, spoiled little_ —

“ _I’m_ being a dick?!”

“Yes!” insisted Virgil.

Roman wasn't in the mood for this tonight. Remus and Dee were the dicks! They were the ones screaming at each other _Fuck you!_ and _Fuck me yourself, coward!_ before making out loudly and obnoxiously behind them! Dee had no decency ever since he’d broken up with Roman. He’d be fine—Really! He would be!—if he had the privilege of never _see_ ing him again, but now he’s dating his _twin_ brother. And Remus is _letting him_ , actually fell in love with the snake! And of course, that meant seeing him 24/7, especially now that Dee moved in. It was as if both Logan _and_ Remus were against him.

“No— _you’re_ being a dick!”

“What?!”

“Every time I say something, you’re all ‘uh-huh’, ‘sure’, ‘I guess’—some boyfriend _you_ are!”

Okay. That one actually cut Virgil. It was like he’d slapped him.

Roman regretted saying it the moment the words left his lips. Some semblance of an apology flickered in Roman’s eyes when he realized he’d gone too far. For now, he’s forgotten to be mad at Virgil and was now focused on trying to make it better. Virgil looks so little and hurt and… betrayed.

Anxiety and pain almost consumed Virgil for a moment as he stared at Roman. _Some boyfriend_ you _are!_ Roman thought he was a terrible boyfriend! It’s not like Virgil’s an expert in this whole… relationship-thing. He’s only… No, it doesn’t matter. Why was Roman being so… _so_ … “F-Fuck you!” he spat, not knowing what else to _fucking_ say as something sharp twists in his chest and tears begin to sting in his eyes.

Roman snapped out of whatever trance he was in. They were back to square one. “Fuck _you!_ ” he parroted icily.

“Fuck YOU!”

“FUCK! _YOU!_ ”

Roman had roared it.

A tense silence fell over them, except for the moans and noises coming from upstairs. They were so close now, practically nose to nose, close enough for Roman to count Virgil’s freckles… he has to fight the urge to rest his hands on Virgil’s hips or caress his cheek. Why were they even dating? Everything between them happens too fast and forcefully. He’s not even sure how they got together at first. Was it April? May? Part of Roman didn’t want to think about it. It was a haze of pain, of breaking up with Dee, of watching him with Remus, and of feeling so… _lonely_. Dee had the nerve to say Roman was in love with Virgil the whole time before jumping in Remus’s lap a week later. It was brutal. Sure, he’s always found this purple menace in front of him to be undeniably adorable with his big brown eyes and freckly skin and love of theatre and Disney and cartoons and snuggling… Still, he’s never made a move toward Virgil while they were dating; he was completely in love with Dee. He’d even thought about going all the way, and about having a future together when they graduate or... _Virgil isn’t wearing makeup today_ , he noticed just now.

Virgil didn’t know whether to continue to be angry at Roman for being so… _Roman_ , or to focus on the warmth crackling between them now. He felt his cheeks flushing. _Out of anger_ , he told himself. But Roman wasn’t even breathing in front of him. _Ha_. Roman Prince thinks he’s so tough, flirting and fighting with him when they got together. When Virgil kissed him, that shut him up. It left him reeling, like _whattheactualfuckingfuckdidheactuallydo_ when he did it… but Roman kissed back, okay? So, it counts. Sometimes, Virgil’s afraid that one day they’ll break up over something stupid that Princey has blown out of proportion. Princey has such a flare for drama, but he’s not gonna break up with him over something as silly as this, is he? Virgil’s always loved Roman, every irritating detail about him, _stupid Princey_. Virgil just wanted to shut him up, to stun him into silence. Every time they fight, they always kiss and make up. They always make it better. But Virgil didn’t want to kiss him right now. Not when Roman’s giving him this… _look_ , like he wants to ask him something but doesn’t know how, and Virgil wants to catch him by surprise. Roman would expect to be kissed after all this.

Then Virgil says, “M-My room. Ten minutes.” It didn’t come out the way he wanted it to. He’d hesitated, and as he said it, there was this hint of hysteria thrumming through him that he didn’t like, like maybe Roman _will_ want to actually have sex. They’ve never even talked about it before, let alone things like boundaries or kinks and fetishes or safe words, and he doesn’t want to leave Roman disappointed with his body, no matter how perfect Roman insists he is. Virgil’s not quite sure if he’s ready.

Still, it had the desired effect.

Roman stares at him. _Did—Did he just say_ … _?_ Did he just _challenge_ him?! Neither of them moved. Roman didn’t know what to do—should he toss Virgil over his shoulder and storm up the stairs or walk out the door and pretend this never happened? How do you even _answer_ that?

“F-Fine.”

 _Oh… shit_.

“It’ll be amazing!” Roman added quickly.

Unable to answer him, Virgil stormed toward the stairs, his face burning and false bravery fading. “Just get up here!”

Oh, shit! They’re getting into this!

After a moment of stumbling and racing up the stairs and ignoring the sounds from Dee and Remus in the twins’ room, Roman and Virgil stumbled into Virgil’s room. Apart from Logan, he was the only one with a room of his own. He moved in during senior year, even though he lived across the street, but that’s a _long_ story. Anyway, Roman pulled Virgil into his arms and kissed him. It’s fiery and terrifying—hair is pulled, butts are grabbed, clothes are yanked at, Virgil’s whimpering… and tense. Unsure if he was comfortable, Roman sat them down and cooled them down a little. He ran one hand up and down Virgil’s back and the other caresses his face, and Virgil just… melted.

He kissed back. Only because he’s angry at Roman, okay?

Roman scrunched his back a little as he kissed him, changing the angle slightly, towering over him. Virgil leaned up, not wanting to lose the kiss. Roman’s being soft and sweet and gentle. Virgil scooted closer… then Roman pounced.

He shoved Virgil onto the bed, and Virgil squeaked in surprise, a little scared at Roman’s suddenness. Maybe Roman’s angry at him after all. “Ro?”

But Roman chuckled as he climbed on top of him, playful as Virgil’s ever seen him. “Virge.”

Roman kissed him again, slow at first, then with all the passion burning between them for _years_ of “hating” each other. It’s a strange reversal of their other kiss just now. Roman’s hands were everywhere on Virgil as Virgil moaned against him, a little more desperately this time. Roman smirked, sensing a victory as he caressed his thumb across Virgil’s cheek, the gentleness out of place in this roughness. This is so, so much… were they _actually_ going all the way? Roman didn’t… what should he…?

At Virgil’s little noises, Roman supposed he was doing okay for now. Roman pulled away and kissed across Virgil’s jaw, then his nose. “Now that I have your attention…” he said before kissing his knuckles and sucking on one of Virgil’s fingers. It left Virgil a blushing mess. “It took you long enough to get a clue, Storm Cloud,” Roman finished, kissing the inside of Virgil’s wrist tenderly.

Virgil’s pretty sure his brain just short-circuited. He thought that was just a Logan thing. “Uh…?”

Roman laughed. God, this boy… he linked their fingers and leaned down to kiss him again.

Virgil’s head spun. _Roman wanted to have sex? What’s gonna happen after? What do you_ do _after someone knows what your ass looks like?_ Virgil wanted him so much. He’d never admit it, but he wanted Roman so badly sometimes just thinking about it was overwhelming. He wanted Roman to love him. To _like_ him! He wanted to make him happy and satisfied—Oh, God, what if he does this wrong? What if he doesn’t like his body? What if he disappoints him? What if— _Oh, what’s he doing now?_ They weren’t kissing anymore.

Roman left feather-light kisses on every inch of Virgil’s face, his nose, his eyes, his cheeks and lips while running a hand down Virgil’s trembling stomach. He gets lost in the way Virgil responds to his touch, his kisses. He moved from Virgil’s stomach leaned up and pinned his hands to the bed.

Virgil rutted against him. “R-Ro—” Roman’s really taking his sweet time here.

“Hmm?” Roman’s about to say something, maybe something snarky, but he pulled his hands away as if he’d burned him. “Are you okay?” Maybe Virgil didn’t like to be restrained, maybe—

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine—stop _teasing_ , will ya?”

Oh. Well, in _that_ case… Roman kissed him, thoroughly and slowly. “Aww, but teasing you is so much _fun_.” To emphasize this, Roman ground down against Virgil’s hips.

Virgil cried out, blushing.

Roman kissed down the other side of Virgil’s jaw, biting and humming against his skin as he ground into him again.

“R-Ro!”

“I’ve got you, Storm Cloud.” Roman ran a hand under Virgil’s shirt, just to feel him gasp at the touch before they pulled it off together. When Roman pulled off his own just after, Virgil ran his hands all over his chest. Roman chuckled and sighed into his touch. He let Virgil look and feel all he wanted while he tried to decide what to do next. Should he… do the same thing? Virgil was beautiful, but if he told him, maybe Virgil would think he wasn’t being genuine now that they were actually getting into this whole having sex thing. He gasped when Virgil brushed one of his nipples.

“You okay, Princey?”

Roman blushed. “Yeah, I’m fine. I just… I’m enjoying the view.”

The look on Virgil’s face was just adorable! He was completely red and stunned for a moment, struggling for words. But when they broke eye contact, Virgil looked so confused and almost insecure, it broke Roman for a moment. Virgil started to shrink in on himself. That just wouldn’t do.

Roman leaned down and kissed and caressed down his chest, enjoying Virgil writhe and beg as he kissed down to one of his nipples. Virgil’s body arched, his eyes closed, he cried out in pleasure, and God, he was so beautiful. Roman longed to see the rest of him. Now. He claimed Virgil’s lips again and practically tore at the fly on his damned skinny jeans. They made his butt and legs look amazing, but now, they were just irritating as Roman tried to rip them off. How did he wear these every day? Roman’s own bootcut jeans were too tight. Roman leaned up to pull them off the rest of the way and Virgil was looking at him like he already missed him. He was so cute all blush-y and needy like that. “Aww, what’s wrong, Virgey?”

“I…”

Roman stopped, giving Virgil his full attention.

Virgil’s blush came back with a vengeance as he looked away. “I…” For once, he was nearly speechless, torn between getting this over with and dragging it out just to make sure he isn’t missing anything or disappointing Roman.

This was serious. Roman laid next to Virgil and gently turned his face to him so they were looking each other in the eye. “What is it?” Roman asked softly.

Virgil couldn’t take this. Whatever this gentleness Roman was displaying right now almost hurt to look at and Virgil feels so… exposed. It’s too hard to vocalize what exactly he wanted without sounding… _weird,_ or something. Something bad that would probably make things awkward.

“Is this… still okay?” Roman asked.

Virgil just nodded at first, but he couldn’t fool Roman. “Just embarrassed. I feel kinda exposed.”

Roman smiled. He carefully pulled Virgil’s jeans and underwear the rest of the way. As much as he wanted to tease Virgil about his _Nightmare Before Christmas_ boxers, he didn’t. This wasn’t the time. Roman then pulled off his own clothing and boots (damn it) before settling them under the comforter and carefully resting between Virgil’s legs. “Better?”

Virgil smiled a little and nodded.

Roman lit up like the sun. “Good.” He kissed Virgil’s nose.

Virgil rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. “Just _fuck_ me, you idiot.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please grill me for typos. I'm a grown adult. I can take it.


	2. Chapter I, Part Two: So... Now What? (NSFW)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman and Virgil have sex for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is NSFW. I was going to work on Chapter Two, but it was a lot of scrolling, so...😅 The second chapter is coming soon. Sorry, guys.

Chapter I, Part Two: So... Now What? (NSFW)

As the moans on the other side of the wall became even louder and clearer, Roman realized neither of them thought this through very well. They’re going to need… things. Important things. He snuggled Virgil nervously. “So, um…” _That’s a good start_. Something close to a squeal in the Twins’ room brought him back to the present as Virgil curled closer. “I have no clue what I’m doing,” Roman admitted.

Virgil relaxed a little in Roman’s arms. “Well, I’ve never done this before either, so…”

Roman nodded. His eyes flickered around Virgil’s room. He had a mess of papers on his desk, writings, books and files with tags in them, most of which were purple, a printer ( _It doesn’t work_ , he told Roman when he barged in one day with his own laptop before he could even open his mouth to ask), a secret tea stash, an empty, knocked-over Radnor University mug, and a laptop was buried under all of it that they won at Bingo Night last semester. He had a vanity, too, on top of his dresser, because of course he did. And there was a palette with pretty shades of purple and peach that Roman to this day has never seen Virgil wear. Clothes were in a little pile on the floor outside the closet, next to some black Converse with purple laces and galoshes. He had only a few posters of bands and movements on his walls. Otherwise, the walls were pretty clear. And the warm comforter they were under was a regal shade of purple. _God, he loves purple_ , he thought. _Virgil’d probably paint the whole house purple and black if Logan let him_. Roman chuckled at the thought of them bickering over shades.

“What?”

Roman looked back at Virgil. “Just you.” Roman knew he was distracting himself from the matter at hand, but he was truly at a loss of what to do now.

Virgil smiled a little. They’re both on edge now, procrastinating. Virgil could feel it. Maybe they should just get this over with, preferably before he loses his own nerve. “So… lube?”

“Do you have any?” Roman asked delicately.

“I haven’t exactly _used_ any, Princey.”

“It was just a question, and I thought you and your ex did… stuff.”

Virgil rolled his eyes. “That was high school. And we never got to the whole… lube part.”

Roman scowled, confused and protective suddenly. “What a jerk.”

Virgil scowled. “No, we just never got to the lube part. Besides, I didn’t exactly get an answer from you just now.”

Roman flopped back, wishing his brother and ex would shut the heck up. “The lube I know _of_ is in my room.”

“Oh,” was all Virgil could think to say.

“Yeah.” Virgil grew stiff suddenly. Roman looked down. “What?”

Virgil was blushing again as he wriggled out of Roman’s arms and reached into the nightstand.

Roman laughed. “Did you just _play_ me?!”

“Shut up! I said I haven’t _used_ it! Not didn’t have it.” He tossed it at Roman’s chest. “I know we’ve been making out and stuff, I just wondered what would happen if one day, we were… going to actually do this.”

“I wanted you to make the first move!” Virgil gave Roman a look. “You know what? Never mind,” he said in a small voice.

Virgil scoffed, before turning away blushing a little more. Before Roman could comment on it, Virgil dropped a handful of condoms on the bed. “Um… what… size are you?”

Roman chose.

Virgil made a mental note to buy more things later as he put the rest of them away.

“You really are prepared,” Roman said as he kissed him and rolled on top of him again. “If this is how we’re gonna fight, can we fight all the time?”

“If this is how we’re fight, we’re never going to get to the sex part,” Virgil complained.

“Okay, geez,” Roman said, lubing up two fingers. “We don’t have to rush things, you know.”

Virgil gasped as he felt one of Roman’s fingers press against him and tensed immediately, still unused to... someone _else_ touching him there.

Roman, being a tease, circled Virgil’s entrance and stroked across his perineum twice before pressing into him slowly. Virgil winced a little, though he wasn’t… in pain? It was confusing…

Roman stopped. “You’re, like, super tense—are you okay? Am I hurting you?”

“It’s f- it’s fine,” Virgil said suddenly.

Roman nodded and went slower. “Okay… just tell me what you’re comfortable with.” Virgil nodded, but he didn’t relax. Roman pulled away and squirted more lube onto his fingers before continuing to open him up slowly. “Just breathe, okay?” Virgil obeyed and closed his eyes, slowly getting used to Roman’s slow movements. When he relaxed, he rewarded Roman with a moan. Roman began to relax too; he leaned down to kiss Virgil’s shoulder. “Should I—?”

“Go ahead,” Virgil answered.

Roman pushed in all the way as he kissed back down Virgil’s body. Virgil moaned again louder this time.

The ruckus on the other side of the wall stopped. Roman froze.

Virgil froze.

A moment passed before Roman whispered, barely audible, “Should I stop?”

Virgil considered it for a minute before smirking. “Just do it.”

“But they—” Before Roman could finish, there was clamoring in the other room, then a _Shhh!_

Roman smirked, then spoke loudly. “You’re still pretty tight.” He teased a second finger. He wouldn’t mind going slow. He certainly wouldn’t mind just pinning him down and screwing him to oblivion either, but he wants Virgil to be ready for both, even if those two over there were being asses.

Virgil cried out again when Roman pushed in with two fingers, though, he winced a little again, too. Roman kissed down and sucked the tip of him into his mouth. It was already becoming too much for Virgil. “Ro, ah—!”

Roman took Virgil down further as he tried to loosen him up, but he was tensing again. He stopped. “You okay?”

Virgil nodded.

“Are you sure you want to keep going?”

“Please!”

Roman smiled. “Okay.” Roman continued, bobbing his head as he did and looking for that spot that would make him—

“Ah!” Virgil arched off the bed as his release threatened to choke Roman. He didn’t see that coming this quickly. Roman licked him clean and kissed his tip sweetly. When he leaned up, Virgil’s eyes were closed, his flushed face was turned to the side, he was breathing deeply, and he looked like he’d run a marathon. He was quiet and relaxed and peaceful. He was _beautiful_.

“How… was that?” Roman asked softly, mesmerized. _He’d_ done that, for Virgil. He was shivering a little, Roman noticed when he observed more closely.

“H-Holy shit… sorry.”

Roman smirked and suckled his tip. “Still mad at me?” he teased.

“Yeah, because you’re going too friggin’ slow!”

Roman shifted his fingers inside Virgil just to hear him squeak. “Don’t worry, I can go faster. But how do you feel? Are you hurt at all?”

Virgil shook his head.

“Okay, just being careful. You have that effect on me.” Come to think of it, while Roman seems to have an adventurous, reckless effect on Virgil, where he was more comfortable and confident around him, Virgil, on the other hand seems to make Roman more nervous and uncertain.

After a moment, Virgil huffs, “Are we getting into this or not?”

Roman swears those two are whispering on the other side of the thin wall. Roman pumps his fingers a little faster, and Virgil gasped. “I don’t know,” Roman answered, “I haven’t decided what to do with you yet. Maybe… I could make you come apart again just like this—” he curled his fingers inside of him and Virgil arched off the bed again “—or… I can stop, tie you up, and enjoy myself just fine without you.”

“Ngh— _Please!_ ” Virgil begged as Roman teased a third finger.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk… and you want me to just fuck you and be done with it.”

Virgil tensed, forcing himself to _breathe_ , when Roman pushed in slowly with three fingers. He wanted more, _more_ … it was too much and just enough all at once, just barely painful.

Roman kissed Virgil’s navel. “Relax, Virgil.”

 _“Relax”?!_ Virgil squirmed under him as Roman kissed across his abdomen. How could he _relax_ when Roman is doing… _this?!_ “You’re on-only making me want you more,” he gasped out before flushing once he realized what he said.

It took Roman by surprise, and he nearly stopped teasing him. Then a wave of confidence crashed over him and he crooked his fingers inside him again, watching Virgil writhe. “Oh, good.”

For a moment, Virgil felt like a teenager again. Everything was wonderful and strange but good, and Roman is so hot. And he’s actually touching him and making him feel good, and they’re both enjoying it, and why did people do anything else all day? Like, ever?

Roman quickly rolled on a condom and slicked himself up. He crawled over Virgil and kissed him, slow, deep, and dirty. “Think you’re ready for me?”

Virgil nodded quickly, eager to feel more.

Roman took a moment to just watch him, all needy and perfect like this. Then he carefully hitched Virgil’s legs up a little higher and gave him a sweeter kiss. He linked their fingers as he pushed in.

Virgil gasped in pain.

Roman wanted to kiss him again but realized if he’s going to get past the tip, they wouldn’t be at the same height anymore. He rubbed circles on the back of his hand as he continued slowly. “Still okay?”

Virgil nodded, taking deep breaths.

It wasn’t like movies at all—it took a _while_ , longer than either of them anticipated, before Virgil was relaxing again. And Roman was constantly checking up on him, asking if he was still alright with this, or to go faster, or how he could make it better, until Virgil was begging beneath him again. Roman ran a hand through his purple bangs and caressed his chest, hoping it somewhat translated his feelings for Virgil. Still it wasn’t enough to prepare him for the intensity of Virgil’s gaze, seeing him slowly falling apart under him, or Virgil spread out and needy and trusting underneath him. “Princey—need you—”

Roman feels like crying suddenly without knowing why. He fought the urge to do so. He had to, for Virgil… “I’ve got you. I promise,” he said, rolling his hips just a little faster.

Virgil threw his head back, closing his eyes and arching under him. Roman groaned, using all of his self-control not to just pin him down and fuck him senseless; it also ten times easier to not cry when he can't see Virgil's eyes. “Fuuuck.”

Roman tried to snicker, it came out as a moan instead. He couldn't believe how close he already was. “I- am-” he teased back, trying not to go faster than he thought Virgil could handle. He wanted to drag this out, to be with Virgil like this forever, feeling and touching and pleasing and being together like this in a way no one else would ever really know, but a deep need was clawing at the both of them and this would all be over soon. When Virgil reached up and grabbed his shoulder with his free hand, digging in with his nails, and rolling his own hips into Roman’s, Roman felt his control snap. He pounded into him. Then it was a blur of hips and Virgil screaming and roughness and grabbing each other, and it was sooo good. “God, Virgil!” _Jesus... Mary, Joseph, Mark, Luke, Mary,_ Satan _, YES!_

Roman let of Virgil’s hand and instead wrapped it around Virgil’s length, stroking him almost as roughly as he plowed into him. Virgil let out a high-pitched sound. “‘M close!”

“Come apart for me, Storm Cloud.”

And Virgil did. Roman followed him over the edge. His arms wobbled dangerously and he nearly collapsed on top of Virgil, but he collapsed next to him and pulled him close. They both panted, sweaty and perfectly sated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do grill me for typos.


	3. Chapter II: Coming to the Club

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the morning after, and now this...

Chapter II: Coming to the Club

Then Roman just had to ask, “Still mad at me?”

Virgil didn’t say anything for a long time, before his confusion caught up to him. He was mad at him? “Huh?”

Roman chuckled and kissed the back of Virgil’s hand.

“I love you,” Virgil purred.

Roman felt tears on his face before he could stop them. “I love you,” he answered. It was… a relief, like a weight off his chest, it was dizzying and horrifying and—wait. What did he just say? And did they really just _do_ that? Is it… really over already?

Virgil snuggled close and kissed his wet cheek. “I _love_ you, you moron! Stop crying,” he teased, before tagging on a gentler, “please?”

“I… we just said we love each other.”

“Y-You don’t have to cry,” Virgil said quietly.

Roman laughed a little, and to his surprise, Virgil kissed him. First. More tears slipped out of Roman’s eyes as he kissed back sweetly until Virgil broke the kiss and snuggled him again.

Virgil was pleasantly sore. He wasn’t oblivious to Roman’s strength, in fact… “You should have pounded me from the start. I was thinking you thought I couldn't handle you.”

Roman let out a high, offended noise. “Are you saying I couldn’t handle _you?!_ ”

“Literally none of what I said implied that, you idiot,” Virgil teased, distracting Roman from his tearful thoughts. He gently wiped the remaining tears from Roman’s handsome face.

The distraction worked perfectly as Roman blushed and began stumbling over everything he was saying. “J-Just because I was... gentler doesn't mean I thought you couldn't—or I couldn't—or—Oh, you're having fun tormenting me, aren't you?” Virgil was, immensely. “I could certainly handle knowing you could handle me pounding you... What am I saying anymore?” It didn’t matter, Virgil’s lips were suddenly on his own. Roman growled, frustrated; only 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 allowed to do that! He kissed back roughly, competing. Virgil squeaked. _Gotcha_.

Roman kissed him sinfully. Virgil tried to meet his level of passion, but this was Roman, “I love you so much, you make me cry”-Roman, with all his passion and strength. And Roman wanted to drive him crazy, like Virgil drove him crazy; he wanted to make his head spin and his toes curl and his mind short-circuit, and for stars to appear behind his eyelids. Virgil let it overwhelm him.

Roman felt Virgil relax into submission again and groaned low in his throat as they kissed. He pulled away, leaving a few short kisses on his lips. “So... what do you wanna do now?”

Virgil relaxed again. “Sleep. I'm gonna be sore when I wake up.“

Roman's bravado evaporated instantly. “Oh, God—I knew it! I hurt you!” He pulled out of Virgil slowly. “Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell me to stop? Or-or slow down or be gentler? Now I've hurt you—are you going to be okay?”

Virgil began to panic himself. “I'm fine,” he promised, “it's called being a virgin, Princey.”

“But I hurt you! Just because you're a—were a virgin doesn't mean it had to hurt. We could have prepped more or played more—I could have slowed down!” A million scenarios sped through Roman’s mind as he thinks of all the ways he just screwed up, all the ways he could make it better now.

“Roman, I'm fine.” Virgil rubbed circles into Roman’s hand. “You didn't hurt me, just you… stretched muscles that were never stretched before,” he added blushing again.

“But I... could have been...” Roman struggled for a word, and it hurt when he settled on, “...better.”

 _Better?_ “Roman.”

Roman didn’t look at him for a minute, it hurt to look at him knowing he hurt him. But he did.

Virgil’s eyes were filled with concern and understanding. “I _loved_ it. My ass got… stretched.” Did he just say that? Virgil fought off the urge to hide under the covers and never come back out. He hid in Roman’s chest instead. “It had nothing to do with what you did wrong because you did nothing wrong.”

Roman pondered this for a moment before shifting, uncomfortably. “I just want... I wanted to be perfect for you.”

God, how could Virgil make him understand this? “Ro, you can't get any more perfect.”

Roman smiled into his hair, somewhat relieved. “I'm not perfect, Virge.”

Virgil rested his head on Roman’s shoulder. “You are to me.”

Roman sighed, fighting off a flush. “There's just no use in fighting you, is there?” He kissed his hair. “You might just be better at romance than I am.”

“Now don't be fucking stupid. Oh wait, you just did.”

“Hmm... wait, what?!”

“You fucked stupid,” Virgil clarified. “As in me.”

“No, I didn't! You're one of the smartest people I know, you... you little... minx!” Just for that, he tickled Virgil. He deserved it.

Virgil squeaked and burst out laughing.

Roman lit up again seeing Virgil so happy. Oh, how he'd do anything to keep him happy and relaxed. Virgil tickled back, relieved he’d made Roman feel even a little better. Then Roman shifted down to kiss all over his stomach and then he kissed his cheek and Virgil was struck hard by just how much he loves this irritating, gorgeous, mess of a boy. Roman was always so… perfectly sweet, always checking up on him and including him and teasing him, just to draw him out with the rest of their crazy roommates and friends. They’ll be graduating next semester with Bachelor’s degrees and, as Patton liked to say, as Level-Four Adults. He never thought he’d be graduating with a gorgeous, sweet, attentive boyfriend.

Roman laid to the side with Virgil in his arms. Virgil fell asleep not to long after, thoroughly exhausted. Roman watched him a little longer before drifting off himself. _Perfect_ , he said he was _perfect_...

~*~

 _This_ should _be a joyous day. After_ years _of finding investors and damn near facing execution for haggling the King and Queen repeatedly, Roman was finally permitted to explore the New World. He had plenty of men ready to go with him, ready to lay down their lives and ready to stake their claim on new territory and gold—gold!—in a world untouched by kings and industry… except the Spanish. And if the King had listened to him all those years ago,_ they _would have been there first. Roman would already have his house, his land, and his gold… and, a wife; yes… a_ wife _._

 _Roman was no fool, however. Going to the New World, to_ any _new territory, was a dangerous game. All of his men, no matter how loyal they swore they were, whether it be to gods, country, or himself, they were all just as ambitious and greedy as he. Just as eager to have something in a rule-less, lawless land that was theirs. So, if Roman was going to be their captain, he had to be specific and cautious._

_Despite his opinions of his men, he must exclude one from his observations; for the youngest, with the black hair, still a boy—maybe sixteen—didn’t seem to be in too much of a hurry to lay down roots, yet here he was. He watched the boy climb on board, looking absolutely miserable and certainly not ambitious, yet, but not completely lacking curiosity. Why would he be here if he were? He carried with him only one small sack and the clothes on his back. He seemed strong and healthy enough—too young for Roman’s liking, but he needed people whom he was sure wouldn’t kill him the first night at sea. His soft brown eyes flickered up toward the bridge, looking right into Roman’s. Roman felt his cheeks heat up at being caught but he held his gaze before the boy looked away again, blinking a few times and disappearing below deck. So, this fair, young man was shy, too._

_Wait… “fair”?_

~*~

Roman woke slowly as rain pattered outside the window the next morning. The morning light coming through the window was pleasant, a muted gray-blue color. When his eyes landed on Virgil in his arms, he leaned down to kiss his hair. He looked tiny as usual in his arms. Roman watched him rest a few moments longer before sighing at the sheer fact that they needed to get up sooner or later. He gently smoothed his hands down Virgil’s back to wake him up slowly.

Virgil groaned a few moments later and moved to stretch, and— _okay_ , he was in pain. When he thought back to last night, he looked up to see Roman staring at him. Virgil shifted, wincing, and kissed his head.

Roman smiled. “Hey.”

Virgil giggled. “Hey,” he answered softly.

Roman snuggled him. “I missed you.”

Virgil scoffed. “Missed me? We were sleeping, Princey; I never left.”

“Still missed you.”

“You're such a dork,” Virgil decided.

“ _Your_ dork.”

Virgil sighed and smiled. “Yeah.”

Roman kissed his temple. “It’s quiet this morning.”

 _Yeah, it is_ … Something was wrong. Virgil didn’t hear anyone downstairs, usually Remus and Dee would be making all kinds of noise or Logan would be cooking downstairs, yelling about how it’s already ten-thirty. Then he was hit with a wave of mortification. “Shit.” Virgil yanked the comforter over himself, burrowing in it.

Roman laughed. “What’s wrong?” Roman scooped him up and pulled him into his arms.

“They heard, didn’t they?” was Virgil’s muffled question.

“So? They were just as loud and annoying.”

“But then they started _listening!_ ”

“Didn’t you want to make a scene?” Roman teased.

Virgil hid his face in his hands. “Do you mind if we don’t get into that right now?”

“Okay. Well…” Roman fished around for a topic as he laid them back down, and fought for the comforter back. “So, school’s starting again in a few days.”

“Thank God.”

“ _Boo_ , why?”

“This summer’s gone on long enough. I’ve lost perception of time.” Nothing motivated Virgil like school and numbers. Both Logan and Virgil had the kind of minds that, as Logan put it, _abhorred idleness_. After all, they were STEM kids. Radnor was a decent school for it, too. Some alumni had just donated to the school in the beginning of Virgil’s freshman year, as Logan was two years ahead of him. They donated enough money where they built a whole new engineering school that would have made even Logan’s parents proud. It’s a beautiful building with plenty of space just waiting for young geniuses and their projects that would soon change the world. Of course, it ate up a commuter parking lot, but the president liked to forget about that.

It certainly made Virgil’s father happy and even more adamant that Virgil keep his major, not that Virgil planned to change it. He only thought about picking up a minor, maybe in theatre or voice training, but his father insisted that he didn’t need to go to school for the arts, he was already talented. It didn’t help before, back when he’d heard one of their new roommates would be a junior theatre student. Virgil was prepared to hate and avoid him, especially when he saw a Tesla and a Mustang parked in their driveway ( _spoiled, rich little—_ ) but Virgil forgot about hating him the moment he saw this junior’s face. He’d still pretend he did, though, damn it.

Roman (and Remus) brought chaos, glitter, noise, Italian and six other languages, and madness into their lives the moment he swooped in three summers ago, but he also brought music, plays, Disney, and charm. In fact, the second the Twins kicked the door open with their duffels and their scores of boxes (most of which were sent back to who-knows-where), Roman was singing the reprise of “When Will My Life Begin?” from _Tangled_ , while Remus was uttering something about _Lucas Lodge_. See, Roman is a Disney authority—always scored a 98% and higher on Disney quizzes and aced Trivia Nights at Radnor when it came to Disney, DreamWorks, _Harry Potter_ , _The_ _Lord of the Rings_ , and old, classic movies like _His Girl Friday_ , _Casablanca_ , _The Great Dictator_ —seriously, just _name_ a movie or show! Virgil “hated” him less and less.

He became curious as to why Roman wasn’t studying _film_ or why the CreativiTwins weren’t studying at some school in… wherever they were from upstate, but Roman wants to be an actor and, he doesn’t go into why he chose not-so-little-anymore Radnor. Virgil knew of a much better school called the University of St. Benedict, which surely would have given them much better opportunities. Sure, tuition was nearly twice as high as Radnor, which is why _Virgil’s_ father isn’t sending him there (and Virgil wasn’t keen on going to a Catholic school), but the Twins weren’t stupid, spoiled rich boys. Roman was smart enough to win scholarships if he wanted them. So… why Radnor? Why Willow Village?

There was also Holly College, which was _pretty lame_ according to Virgil. It wasn’t far from here, really, and it offered many of the courses and internships both Virgil and Roman could use, but it was in the middle of nowhere and friggin’ Chapel Heights. He didn’t want to feel sheltered and bored outside of class, or have cops busting down his roommates’ doors at two in the morning over drugs and trouble. Radnor was safer and fun, for Virgil. Why’s _Roman_ here?

“Whatever,” Roman huffed. “Time is a construct.”

Virgil stuck his tongue out. “Let’s just enjoy the qui—” The door _banged_ open and the air was filled with air horns.

Virgil sprang up and Roman snapped his hands over his ears and Remus announced, “Congratulations on my brother finally getting laid!”

Roman blushed and Virgil looked like he wanted to die as he squeaked and hid under the comforter.

Then there was a phone in his face. “How does it feel, Ro?”

Roman stared at him. “Shut. Up.”

Deceit came in and sat at Virgil’s desk as though seeing Roman naked, Virgil curled under the covers in a tight little ball, and the mess in their bed was the most normal sight in the world. “What—you mean _you're_ not psyched for a party for once, Ro? You both _finally_ lost your virginities,” he said flatly, almost annoyed even though _he_ was the one who had walked in on _them_.

“Guys... go away,” Roman stuttered as he tried to grab one of the sheets to hide under.

Virgil let out a long, mortified whine from where he was.

Then Remus turned the phone on himself. “Hey, guys! Guess where I am right now—”

Roman surged up. “NO!” he grabbed them both and pushed them out the door slamming it behind them as they cackled outside it. He sat next to Virgil carefully as the laughter receded outside.

“Virge?”

Virgil didn’t answer, apparently refusing to come out.

Roman wasn’t sure what to say or even if Virgil wants to be touched right now so he keeps his distance. “You okay? I'm not.”

Virgil just shifted a little.

“Would… Can I touch you?”

Virgil let out a long whine. It was almost cute.

Rowan chuckled a little, before slipping his arms around him. After a moment, Virgil snuggled back, but he looked just awful, panicky. Roman's smile slipped away. “How are you feeling?”

“Sore—but it's not too bad.”

“I meant from—”

“I don’t want to talk about those assho—”

“Okay! I... Would you like to take a bath? For the soreness?”

After a long moment, Virgil nodded.

“Okay. C'mere.” Roman picked him up carefully, keeping the comforter wrapped around him like a cute, purple burrito and bravely ventured them outside and into the small bathroom. “Do you want me to join you or do you wanna be left alone for now?”

Virgil covered his face. “Our bathtub is small so—”

“Okay! I'll go—”

“I never said that—you can still be in the bathroom, Ro.”

“Okay.” _Why does Virgil make me so jittery but here he is calm as ever? He's the anxious one!_ Roman watched Virgil hold his face in his hands as he filled the tub. He pulled on a robe, pointlessly and sits next to the tub and rests his head on his arms to watch Virgil. “Are you… feeling a _little_ better?”

“I guess...”

“That doesn't sound good.”

“I'm fine, just really embarrassed. They want to turn everything we do into a party. It’s mortifying.” Virgil got up and got into the tub, not wanting to wait for it to fill even halfway.

“Why do we live with four roommates again?” Logan and Remy are nice enough; Logan will probably reprimand them later for being so loud and Patton will probably giggle next time he sees them, and of course Remy will get Virgil to spill _some_ things later, but his brother and Dee are just the worst.

Virgil dunked his head under the water. He could certainly go for having less roommates, but Virgil and Logan were like Roman and Remus—one cannot exist without the other. Virgil knows deep in his bones the CreativiTwins wouldn’t know what to do without each other. They may love and hate each other in this cramped little house, but it’s better than being alone. So, Virgil was stuck with both of them.

“Hey!” Roman laughed and poked Virgil side. Virgil yelped and jolted up, splashing water and Roman snickered. God, he loves this boy.

Virgil pouted and disappeared under the rising water.

“Come back here!” He tickled him again.

Virgil surfaced again, gasping for air and coughing then laughing. Roman didn’t stop smiling all morning.

Until they went downstairs.

“Will you please warn us in advance when you and your… _boyfriend_ are to partake in inappropriate activities?” Logan demanded. “I already have _one_ problem to deal with and these walls are not soundproof!”

Virgil winced. “Sorry, Lo.”

Logan scoffed. “Unlike some very fortunate _children_ , the rest of us _work_ in the summer.”

“Fine, but we expect the same when you and Patton start having sex,” Roman quipped.

Virgil snickered when Logan blushed. “We aren't!”

“ _Yet_.”

Virgil rolled his eyes and chuckled as Logan started sputtering a response. See, Patton and Logan have been “maybe together” for a little while now. Virgil certainly liked the change it brought to Logan, he was more relaxed and outwardly emotional, and that part of him had been closed off since… well, since he and Virgil started renting the house out. Logan liked to pretend it was solely for the money, but Virgil knew better. So, he’s been teasing Logan to invite Patton to live with them, even though he lived seven houses down and two blocks over with his family.

“I— We—” Logan choked out, flushing, “Just keep it quiet! There’s more than just you two living here!” Roman laughed out loud and Virgil joined in.

“What’s this? Virgil _laugh_ ing and _smil_ ing?” Dee said as he walked in. “Is hell frozen over?”

Roman’s good mood disintegrated immediately. “What do you want?”

“Nothing,” he said heading to the fridge. “Just nice to know you, too, have joined the We’re Not Virgins Club.”

Virgil rolled his eyes. “Shut up. I hope you guys haven’t posted all that.”

“Never!” Remus thundered, crashing into the kitchen a moment later. “It was on this day in history,” he announced in his Roman-voice, “That my brother and his boyfr—”

“Okay! Enough,” Roman said, already exhausted and it’s not even twelve-thirty. “Shouldn’t you guys be off somewhere sucking each other off up a dark alley?”

Logan sighed and left for work.

“Ooh! Such language!”

“Please, you say things that are ten times worse.”

“Yeah, I do, but coming from _you_ , Ro? It’s a miracle.” Where Roman was charming and sweet and even naïve, Remus was sometimes-charming, vulgar, and disgusting, but he’s Roman’s twin, so they were all suffering together, Virgil more than anything.

He got up. “Jesus, I'm out of here.”

“Wait!” Roman called after him as he stormed out. He growled at the two troublemakers. “Now look what you did!”

“What'd we do?” Dee asked innocently, the way that used to make Roman… No.

Roman stood up and followed Virgil outside.

It’s hot, like an oven—humid and unrelenting, but at least it’s raining. Willow Village was like something out of a film when it rained. The houses looked sad, the sky was hazy, and the winds blew like a hurricane, knocking out power and destroying trees and homes all over town. Occasionally the sun would peek out and everything would glimmer like diamonds before the sun was hidden away again. The roads ran like _rivers_ though, especially considering the county’s flood problem. And of course, hurricane season was always either a game of chance or a nightmare. All it seemed to do here was rain.

“Virgil, wait!” Roman splashed after him across the lawn. “I... I shouldn't've said that—I'm sorry. He's just—”

“I'm tired of them 'celebrating' us having sex! It’s not—” Virgil’s face twisted and pain and disgust all at once. “If I knew that would happen, we wouldn't have done it.”

Roman stared at him. “You… wouldn’t?”

Virgil sighed. “I—I mean... not at home... I would have taken you somewhere else.”

Roman isn’t entirely sure what that means but… “Look. I don't... care about what they're saying. But I wouldn't have ch—well… I would've been better for you, but who cares about Dee and Remus? They already suck.” _And swallow_ , a perverted, immature part of Roman’s mind that sounded very much like Remus provided. _No! Don't say that out loud!_ “I just—hope you—”

“It'll pass.” Virgil insisted. Wait, who was doing the reassuring here? “Remus gets bored of jokes like this after a while—just... Why does it have to be with us...?” Virgil sounded so tired of them both. Not that he wasn’t, but they always exhausted him.

Roman shifted, feeling antsy. “I'm just glad they didn't burst in last night. Assholes, both of them!” Roman doesn’t want to think about it anymore; he wants to think about food and make Virgil happy again. He knows he keeps tripping over his words and actions but he feels like he keeps doing _every_ thing just... wrong. And being out in the rain was becoming irritating. “Do you wanna stay out for a while?

Virgil took his hand and nodded. “Yeah. Let's stay out.”

Roman lit up a little bit. “Okay, cool. You wanna get breakfast? And water! God, you must be dehydrated!”

Virgil perused the little menu at this new bistro called Roasted and Toasted a few minutes later. It was very much like Starbucks when it came to drink options, and they even had their own frozen drinks, but it’s a quieter, sit-down place than a café, serving little meals and selling books.

Roman squeezes the bridge of his nose, trying to calm down and think of his next steps. This was ridiculous, he should be enjoying breakfast with his boyfriend, not plotting war and revenge against—

“Don't tell me,” Remington said suddenly, appearing out of nowhere with a fresh pot of coffee for his “babes”. “Dee and Remus? Posting about you guys sleeping together?”

Remy was the only exception in their Household: He was the oldest, twenty-seven soon, wasn’t in school and was the only one without a romantic interest. His first love was coffee. So much so, that there was no coffee shop in Willow where he didn’t work. Coffee was where the action was. _Tea Time_ , he called it ironically. He knew everyone, even the Level-Four and -Five Adults, all the kids and professors, all the parents and teenagers—anyone who drank a hot beverage or an iced coffee, he knew. It must have been a superpower that those ubiquitous sunglasses of his provided him.

He knows even me and _you_.

Roman's head shot up. “ _Posted?!_ ”

Remy blinked at him behind his shades and whipped out his phone. Roman snatched it before Remy could show him. On Twitter, Roman scrolled through everyone congratulating or shaming Roman and Virgil as #Prinxiety, how gorgeous they were and how cute they were and _wait, Roman's a virgin?_ and _how does Virgil dye his hair?_ and _WAIT WHAT?!_

“Posted,” Remy repeated.

Roman slammed his head on the table and pulled at his hair.

Virgil snatched the phone to scroll for himself. The longer he scrolled, the more he was ready to cry. “Whyyyyy?”

Remy pours them two mugs of hot coffee quietly, not wanting to say anything to exacerbate the situation.

“My life is over.”

“I wouldn't say that,” Remy said, optimistic. Roman was popular on Twitter and Instagram; he’d bounce back from this in no time. Virgil on the other hand… that might take some work.

“I'm gonna kill them both.”

“Would you like some pancakes first, babe?”

Roman picked up his head, blushing. “Red Velvet.”

Virgil lost whatever appetite he had. “I'll just snatch one of yours...”

Remy scribbled their order. “Your lives aren't over. It'll be forgotten tomorrow, two weeks at the most. Besides, you're two consenting kidults.”

“It was private! _Beyond_ "private"— _intimate_. I...” Roman sipped some coffee, wincing when it burned his mouth. “I'm going to murder them.”

Virgil growled. “Let’s flag the Tweet for harassment. They'll be forced to delete it or else their accounts will be locked down.”

“I guess, but it'll take until tomorrow at least. Coffee Bean,” Remy said to Virgil, “everyone will have forgotten by then. Trust me.”

Two weeks later, no one seems to have forgotten anything. So, it was up to Roman to do some damage control, since Virgil wasn’t coming out of his room this morning.

“You know, I don't know whether to be flattered I'm famous or irritated I'm infamous now,” he offered, leaning against Virgil’s door. He read a reply tagging their usernames that read, _OMG, YOU AND VIRGEY ARE SOOO CUUUUUUUTE!!! 💖💜_ before he closed his laptop. “Storm Cloud, you can't stay in there forever, please? What about school? What about your dad?”

“I don’t care!” came Virgil’s muffled voice, probably hiding under the covers, too. “Your brother ruined my life!”

Roman banged his head on the door. “Come on, we have to go to school. Besides, if we get hit on campus, it's free tuition.” Of course, Roman was kidding. But, like… it was true. “Okay, not my best, but please? And it's not like people hate us.”

There was clamoring behind Roman, then Virgil wrenched open the door and Roman nearly fell back. He stood as Virgil showed him his phone. Another Tweet: _OMG I GO TO SCHOOL WITH THEM! Damn Virgil has a nice ass See you in math~_

 _Oh... yikes_. Maybe, it was for the best for Roman not to show Virgil any of his own Tweets. “Can I come in at least?”

Virgil sighed and stepped aside.

Roman smiled a little and walked past him, debated sitting on the bed, and sat on the chair. “Good. I missed you.”

Virgil sat on the bed. “I’ll wring their necks; I swear to God.”

“I said the same thing, but you and I know that neither of us are going to do that,” Roman said. “Where are they anyway? They've been mysteriously quiet for the past, like, week and a half.” Come to think of it, there haven't been any dirty dishes, shortages of snacks, changes in streaming passwords, or empty gas tanks either; it's like they evaporated. For now.

“Where have _you_ been?” Virgil asked, bewildered. “They have _loud_ fucking sex at least once a day.”

“I mean around the house otherwise. It's like they moved out... almost.” Maybe this was the calm before the storm...

“They started eating out every day because Dee got a job.”

“Dee? Work?” If Roman knew his boy— _ex_ —if he knew Dee, he knew that he… doesn’t… Well, they were graduating this year, all of them. Maybe Dee was working a research assistant position for a law office or got a paid internship somewhere similar. “Okay... maybe that's not so hard to believe,” he said changing his mind, “but Remus...” Even _he_ wouldn't let his hands get that type of dirty; _brat_. After school, he was going to go right back to living with their parents. “You know what? It doesn't matter. I still miss you.”

Virgil opened his arms and Roman dove into them. Virgil let out a squeak as he tackled him onto the bed to snuggle. Roman chuckled in return. Goodness, he's missed this, this closeness. He ran his hands through Virgil’s hair.

Virgil pulled him closer. Why couldn’t they just go back to normal? “So how much school have I missed?” he asked.

“Let’s see…” Roman thought back. “Well, we’re still in add/drop, and classes started Tuesday. So about two and a half days. We should get out of here. I have Acting for Cinema at eleven. And you have Calc II!”

“Eh,” Virgil wriggled out of Roman’s grip and headed to his closet to dress. “It's not like I'll have trouble catching up.”

“But it's Calculus! Wait, are you with Logan or is he in another section? He might be taking Calc II. Come to think of it, I thought he graduated.”

“He’s an engineering student. He didn’t graduate yet.”

“Oh.”

“Anyway, I have class in an hour. And Logan and I only did the avoiding-thing so he had a chance to make friends and not cling to me like we both know he would.”

“Aww!” Roman cooed.

“It was his idea,” Virgil insisted.

“Aw,” Roman repeated sadly. “Well, get going! Shoo!” Roman pushes him out the door of his room almost the moment he’s dressed.

“Okay! Okay!” Virgil reached back for his bag. “I have an _hour!_ Relax, babe.”

“Shoo!” Roman insisted. “Eat, drink, study, _shoo_! Do you even know where the engineering hall is?” _Of course he does_ , Roman realized a moment later. _He’s a math student._

“Yes, Roman. Yes. You have class too. Now, get going.” And with that, Virgil managed to sneak out without getting food.

~*~

It had been nearly three hours later when Virgil left class. Every step down the marble stairs felt like a descent into hell and madness. His bookbag weighed a ton, his hoodie was too heavy and it was so hot. A few girls giggled at Virgil as he left the building. Some of the guys looked him up and down while some just avoid him, looking almost disgusted. They knew, they all knew. It was high school all over again.

When a grey Tesla whipped around the corner with a screech and came to a rough stop at Virgil’s shoes, the giggly girls full on _squealed_ with delight.

Virgil hid in his hoodie, wiping tears off his face.

Roman would take care of him in a second, but for now… “Quick! Get in!”

Virgil nearly jumped in the car and Roman screeched away.

“I came as soon as I could, are you—? You’re crying!” he remembered.

“N-no, I’m not.” Virgil wiped his face quickly.

Roman pulled over in the least populated place he saw along the road. “Yes, you are.” He held Virgil's teary face in his hands, brushing some away with his thumbs.

The gentleness after everything that happened this morning made him cry more. “I-I'm not—”

“Shh, shhhhh...” Roman gently blotted his tears away with his sleeve this time as he carefully pulled him closer. “Come'ere.”

Virgil buried his face in his shoulder and sobbed as Roman ran his hand up and down his back, shushing him gently. And Virgil clung to him, dreading when he’d have to let go. It had been awful, one of the girls had recognized him in the hallway while she was eating lunch. She’d snapped a picture of him and it made its way around the building before class even started. It was all downhill from there. Someone, right there in class, snapped a certain picture under the desk and tagged him in it. When Virgil saw it, he froze, disgusted. _Then_ the person behind him saw it…

A few students passed them. One of them was checking out the car, but the other walked past the parked car saying, “Aww that's so adorable, you two.” Roman slammed his hand on the horn repeatedly until they clamped their ears and scampered away. Virgil jumped a little, but Roman wrapped his arm around him again protectively.

_Ping!_

Virgil searched for his phone in his bookbag and discovered a Twitter notification. “It's an apology from Dee.” Roman let him go without a fight despite his disinterest in hearing it. “He's apologizing for what's been happening... He said ‘ _Attention Twitter. My boyfriend and I jokingly posted a picture of his brother Roman and his boyfriend having sex, with the caption #ByeByeVirginity. It was only meant to be a prank but has gone WAY too far. Roman and Virgil getting the constant harassment and dick pic requests- it’s disgusting. What is wrong with you? The post has been removed, and if you guys keep harassing them I'll have it brought up to whoever it is necessary. This needs to stop_.’”

Roman grips the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turn white. “Fuck.”

“What?”

Roman calmed down a bit, knowing everything he was about to say he’d either already told Virgil or Virgil had already told it to himself. “I didn't know about the whole dick pic thing. I, at least, haven't gotten any. Is that what happened in class? Was it taken down?”

Virgil looked for the picture, but… “It's gone,” he said, relieved. “And yeah. I've gotten people sending me and asking me for dick pics... Dee kinda sounds like he was dragged into the whole thing anyway.”

“Wow.” Roman parked the car and turned off the engine. This is 2019, why are people still so immature about sex when they were supposed to be the progressive, tolerant age? The Millennials? What a royal mess...

Logan sent a text: _Did you guys check Twitter?_

Roman sighed and answered, _Just now_. “Virgil, I'm so sorry. If I could just scoop you up and carry you off in a golden carriage away from all this I would, Storm Cloud.”

Suddenly Roman got another text, from his father: _Roman, what the hell's going on?_

Roman chuckled humorlessly. “Great.”

When Virgil looked down at his own phone there was a text from _his_ father: _Virgil why was there a photo of you having sex all over twitter?_ Virgil groaned and put his phone down.

Both their phones rang practically off the hooks. Until Roman's father called him. _Oh, no_. Roman quickly ignored the call. It would be very, very, very bad if he picked up the phone right now. He’d rather be grated for it later, when the worst of his father’s temper had cooled, than get upset in front of Virgil. Calm, he had to keep calm.

“You, too?” Roman noticed Virgil scrambling to reply to his father. “Should have known this would get up to the executive level sooner or later.” Roman quickly sent a reply to his father. _Why don't you ask Remus?_ After a moment’s hesitation, Roman turned off his phone. “We need a vacation... but I don't want to hide from this, you know?”

Virgil began crying again. “I-I can't do this!"

“Whoa, hey!” Roman muted Virgil's phone then caressed his cheek. “We don't have to do anything! Or answer to anyone.”

Virgil raised an eyebrow. Princey was starting to sound like his obnoxious “I’m actually an adult now”-self again.

“We didn't know they would burst in and start taking pictures!” Roman justified. “That's—All we need to do is not give into it. But... what do _you_ want to do?”

Virgil stared into space for a moment. “I don’t know.” What did you do when the whole damn _world_ knows what your ass looks like? Roman was one thing, but now the whole world? Their parents and peers and… this was way too much.

“Well, I'm not going to do anything without you, Virge,” Roman promised.

Virgil knew he wouldn’t. He’s Roman, but that didn’t mean he had to drag Roman down with him. “I just- I need to get away from school for a while.”

Roman nodded, seemingly not satisfied, but accepting it, nonetheless. Virgil smiled. How lucky could he get to have a boyfriend, a history of boyfriends, who’d take names and kick ass for him? “You wanna stay home while I do some damage control?” Roman suggested.

Virgil just nodded, wanting to avoid humans for a while, if that’s what he should call them.

So, they went home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please grill me for typos.


	4. Chapter III: Damage Control

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just things are starting to go back to normal, Virgil goes flying off the handle. 🎵I hope he's happy. I hope he's happy now. I hope he's happy how he's hurt Roman forever. I hope he thinks he's clever.🎶 (If you get that reference, I adore you!)

Chapter III: Damage Control

A week later, Twitter and Instagram were almost one hundred percent back under Roman's control. After all, everyone loved him! Roman even managed to appeal to Virgil's professors, stressing that everything that happened was a sick prank and caused his boyfriend "severe emotional distress and harassment". It helped get some of Virgil's worst classes switched to online courses so he could hide in the library when he felt overwhelmed, which to be honest was most of the time. Virgil was even exempt from a midterm in Calculus II since he lost so much time. Of course, their parents weren’t pleased, but let’s not get into that just yet.

“Is it _still_ September?” Roman whined, laying back on a couch. They’d taken up refuge in the children’s section of the university’s library. It was perfectly secluded and filled with the stories Virgil knew Roman still secretly adored. So, he let him drag him here and worked at the table next to him.

“Yes, it is _still_ September, Roman.” Virgil wasn’t really annoyed, but he _was_ doing calculus homework.

Roman groaned, tapping away on his phone, still flagging accounts and comments and deleting posts, but Virgil didn't need to know that. “How?” he moaned. “It feels like forever ago. I just wanna graduate.”

“Because that's how time works, Princey,” Virgil chuckled, blowing is fading purple bangs out of his face.

“How long till I get my bachelor’s again?”

“Nine months. We graduate in May.”

“ _NNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGH_!” Roman locked his phone and threw his arm over his eyes.

“Oh, hush,” Virgil said. “You're not studying for a master's degree. I'm trying to be a teacher here. I have to do two years of teacher's college _after_ I graduate. You have until May and you're done.”

Roman leaned up a little. “Hey! I want my master’s, too,” Roman protested. “But _boo_.”

“Stop complaining or I'm going to bore you to sleep with a calculus rant again.”

“ _Boooooooo_.”

Virgil read nearly half a page before Roman complained again.

“Viiiiiirge!”

“Aww, are you bored, Princey?” Virgil teased.

“I don’t _speak_ Calculus.”

Virgil chuckled. It was true, Roman was lazy when it came to numbers. It was something Virgil’s father disliked about him most. “That's because you're a theater geek. I'm just an emo nerd.”

“I’m speaking Italian and you’re speaking… just Calculus!”

Virgil laughed harder. “ _Eu não sei sobre isso, mas portugues por outro lado—_ ”

“ _Não! Você não fala português!_ ” Roman admonished firmly.

Virgil blinked, impressed. “I thought Spanish and Italian were your thing.”

“I speak _many_ languages,” Roman said with a wink. "You know that."

Virgil rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” He got up and placed a quick soft kiss on Roman’s nose then got back to work while Roman continued to gripe and whine. _So, Princey speaks Italian, Spanish, French, English,_ and _Portuguese?_ What else does he not know about his perfect, spoiled, overly dramatic boyfriend?

~*~

“And... done,” Remus announced, closing his laptop and plopping back on Dee’s bed around nine-thirty. “Everything about that night has disappeared. Maybe they'll manage to forgive us.”

“Doubt it,” Dee replied. “You guys might be twins, but I know him in a different way then you—”

“Ooh! Dirty details…”

Dee threw Remy’s pillow at Remus’s face. “Grow up! I just meant I know how prideful he is.”

Remus barked a laugh. “No one knows Roman’s pride better than me! You should have seen him at St. James High. The only person he’s scared of is Father,” he tacked on a little sadly.

Dee softened a little. “I know,” he said quietly.

Somewhere downstairs, Virgil slammed the door to the house.

“Here we go,” Dee said. Virgil barely glanced into the room and hissed at Remus and Dee, then hid in his room yelling, “You _ruined_ my life!”

Roman followed him wordlessly, his gaze cold as ice and staring straight forward. Virgil’s door slammed.

Dee rolled his eyes, knowing Virgil probably hid in his blankets and refused to come out. “Ro!”

No answer, just a door closing.

“See?” Dee said to Remus.

“What? _You're_ his ex. Go talk to him.”

“What- You’re his brother! _You_ go talk to him! What makes you think he'll talk to me?”

Virgil let out a scream of frustration.

Dee sighed. “Fine. But you go talk to Virgil.”

Remus knocked on Virgil’s door a moment later.

“ _Whaaat_?”

“Just open the door.”

“Um, just go away?”

Remus entered anyway. Seriously, how did Roman put up with this little guy? “Can we talk please?”

“What can you possibly say to make things better?” he answered, half muffled by the pillow he was lying face down in.

“Let me try. First… I’m sorry.”

“Wow!” was Virgil’s sarcastic reply as he leaned up. “You're _sorry_. Thanks, man! It totally makes up for the picture you posted of Roman and me having sex!”

“Okay, first off, it was afterglow at best. Second, we were just being assholes. We're... we're doing everything we can to fix it, even Remy—"

“Remus, don’t you understand? You have ruined my _life_. Every employer in this… _country_ is going to be able to trace that back to me. It’s online! That shit is there forever!”

“Well, they say boobs get you in the door and brains keep you in the office; maybe it works that way with dicks, too,” Remus joked.

“Oh, my God! Fuck. You!”

Well, meanwhile…

“Virgil's never going to forget this, Dee,” Roman said firmly. “Whatever game you’re playing, he's already pretty upset, and so am I! You invaded our shared privacy.”

“Do you think I _wanted_ to hurt you?”

See? This is the _thing_ with Dee! He lies about everything, he steps on everybody, and he acts like _you’re_ the bad person and _he’s_ the victim! What on earth was he trying to do if _not_ to hurt them? “What does that even _mean_?” Roman demanded.

“Raising your voice?” Dee folded his arms. “Wow, _now_ you’re just trying to start an argument.”

“No! _You're_ sounding like you're trying to hurt Virgil!”

“What?! No!”

The silence that followed Dee’s words just _felt_ heavy with tension and guilt. “I cannot believe you right now.” Roman opened the door about to tell Dee to get the hell out when Remy poked his head in.

“Babes, where’s Virgil going with your car?”

Roman paused. It was a serious question.

One, Virgil can’t drive—he has no license.

 _What?!_ Roman had said. _How do you not have a license? How do you get I.D.’d, like, ever?_

 _I don’t need to get I.D.’d,_ Princey, Virgil spat at him, not glancing up once from his laptop. _And not all of us have Teslas and shit_. _I don’t need to drive, everything I need is right here in Willow Village_. Despite saying this, Virgil’s cheeks were burning up, and Roman recognized the pride covering up the sadness in his voice, sadness that sounded like maybe he’d _begged_ his father to get a license—maybe a little, cheap car, too, that Roman knew he would protect with his life—and was flatly told _No_ anyway.

Roman didn’t push anymore, but he said, _We need to get you a license_. _At the very least, to sneak you into Landmark_.

Two, Virgil _can’t_ drive!

Certainly not in Roman’s Tesla. Roman knew this because he tried teaching him once in Remus’s ‘Stang at his own insistence and Virgil’s reluctance.

 _I can’t take this anymore_ , he said, the day after Virgil ended up stranded in Philly at two in the morning. _You’re going to learn to drive if it kills you_. It was embarrassing for everyone. Even the simplest directions were difficult for Virgil—he was jerky on the pedals, he can’t drive a manual to save his life, he paused too long between switching pedals, which nearly destroyed Remus’s transmission, and his turns were way too sharp. Once, he turned off the car while they were at a light by mistake.

And of course, Virgil was so nervous about messing up in front of his then-crush that he felt he just couldn’t do anything right. He had panicked badly, nearly driving them into a ditch, damn manuals! They ended up outside a Taco Bell. Virgil was forcing himself not to cry and Roman was there, being so, so understanding, and gently wiping his tears away, and shushing him as he gently ran his fingers through his hair. Back then, Virgil had hated every second of it, as it only increased his feelings for him, and Roman was in love with one of his _room_ mates! In hindsight however, it had brought them closer than they’d ever been.

“What do you mean ‘with my car’?” he repeated stupidly.

Remy rolled his eyes. “I _mean_ he just took off with a bag and your keys, hon.”

After a moment of hesitation, Roman raced toward the stairs.

“Ro—wait!” Dee began.

Roman stumbled, nearly falling down the stairs and ran back to Remy. “I need your keys. Now.”

Remy fumbled with the keys in his pocket. “It's in the driveway, isn’t it? I didn’t hear a car _leave_ yet.”

“He's _about_ to leave! I need to talk to him.”

Remy laughed out loud as he handed him the keys. “You want to chase down Virgil in your Tesla with my '04 Hyundai? Good luck. Actually…” Remy pondered a moment, “does he even know how to get it started? I don’t.”

As if to answer his question, there was a crash just outside.

Everyone whipped around, frozen.

Then Roman bolted down the stairs and outside.

The first thing he saw was the truck that T-boned the Tesla on the driver’s side as Virgil backed out, the second thing was the neighbor’s flattened mailbox across the street that Virgil had run over, and the third thing was the other driver screaming as he got out of his own car. Finally, he saw Virgil, frozen behind the wheel.

“Oh, my God!” Remy was saying.

Roman ran to Virgil’s side as fast as he could. The windows were smashed and he had cuts, and it looked like he had a seatbelt injury, but otherwise he was okay, but…

“Virgil!”

Virgil just sat, way too still.

“Virge—" Roman managed to pull him out of the car as carefully as possible. Virgil didn’t even react. “Virge, please! Say something!”

“Whoa…” came Remus’s voice somewhere behind them. Dee was standing in the doorway with his hands over his mouth.

“What the hell were you thinking?!” the other driver was saying as he slammed the door of his truck.

Roman cradled Virgil on the sidewalk, rubbing his little hands in his own. “Virgil, say something…”

Remy ran over to them. Other people have come outside their houses or have slowed down and stopped in the middle of the road. Others honk, of course, unable to see what’s going on. Every other person is on the phone with the police.

“I— Wh—” Virgil was shaking all over the place.

“ _Well?!_ ” the driver yelled.

“I-It happened so fast- I-” Virgil was saying.

“Back off, sis!” Remy defended. “It was an accident.”

“This was no ‘accident’! This—tsk!— _teenager_ wasn’t paying attention! He could have _killed_ someone!”

“Virgil, look at me,” Roman was saying softly.

“What is _wrong with_ you! Where’s your license?!”

“Will you calm down?!”

“No, I will not ‘calm down’ when some reckless teenager who can't drive nearly _killed_ me!” the man turned to Virgil. “I said, where's your license. I want to see your license right now!”

Virgil didn't know who to focus on. He ended up curling up and covering his ears. “Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Leave me alone!”

“Don’t give me that!”

“He's panicking. Remy—?” Roman pleaded.

“Got it.” Remy left without another word and ran back inside.

“What's wrong with him?” the driver asked.

“Leave me alone! I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!”

“He’s prone to panic attacks. Just— _back off_ ,” Roman growled.

“What do you mean ‘panic attacks’?”

“I said, back off!”

“Okay, sir. Just come this way so we can get you checked for injuries,” an EMT was saying. Roman brought him over to sit in the back of the ambulance as Virgil muttered _I’m sorry, I’m sorry_ over and over, as he’d done for the past twenty minutes.

Det. Foster, Patton's father, asked Roman about the car and the accident, keeping his voice low since he refused to leave Virgil’s side, even for a moment. Everything was a blur for Roman having to answer, comfort Virgil, and comprehend the situation all at once. His hand glided over the blanket Remy had placed on Virgil’s shoulders while Virgil fidgeted with the soda he’d given him.

When Det. Foster finished up, Remy came over. “Hey, coffee bean.”

The other driver was _furious_ , demanding Virgil be arrested and given a breathalyzer test while Det. Foster tried to reason with him. Obviously, Virgil was going down for not having a license, but Roman would find a way to get them out of the rest of this. He _had_ to…

“Are you feeling better?” Roman asked delicately when he noticed Virgil wasn’t apologizing anymore.

Virgil just shook his head no.

“You're very lucky, Virgil,” the EMT said. “If it were a... if it were a different car, you might be much worse off.”

“Oh, you've gotta be kidding me,” Remy said out of nowhere.

“What is it?” Roman looked his way to see Remy staring at his phone.

Remy looked back and forth from it to Roman before saying, “You don't wanna know.”

Across the street, some girls squealed "Hi, Princey!" because it's _sooo funny._ Roman groaned and sat back against the side of the ambulance.

“I'm sorry, Ro. I'm so, so sorry—I stole your car, I got in an accident—I—I just did everything wrong and I'm so sorry—" Virgil rambled.

But Roman shushed him. “It's alright, it doesn't matter, Storm Cloud.” He chuckled, rubbing Virgil’s arm. “It's a difficult car to drive, and I don't care about it the way I care about you. So, you can stop saying sorry, okay?”

“Okay…sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“YOU!” The other driver stormed over. “You ruined my car! I ought to sue you!”

Det. Foster restrained him before he got too close, ordering him to calm down.

As Virgil curled away in fear, hiding against Roman, Roman battles the urge to fight, to fight him to the death for Virgil, but Virgil needs him now, he needs him to protect him, not fight for him. He pulled Virgil closer, away from him.

Remy was the one to scream back at him and Roman almost felt a little envious.

“Pay no attention to him,” he said to Virgil instead. “Just focus on me, okay? Focus on my voice... I've got you, Virgil.”

Their other roommates and Patton appear, asking questions and trying to be helpful. Where’s Virgil’s father? If it were Roman’s father, he’d be… well, where’s _Virgil’s_ father?

“See? Everything's okay.”

Still… Remus wound up decking the guy after he threatened Dee.

Virgil just wanted to go home.

Several groupies on the side of the road call out to them and hold signs reading "WE 💖 U, PRINCEY" and "R+V WE SUPPORT💖💜💞" and a few others.

Patton was crying now and Logan was holding him up while Remus and Remy are still having a screaming match with the driver holding his nose threatening to press charges for assault and attempted manslaughter.

Roman and Dee made eye contact for a moment, and so much was said just by looking at each other before Roman severed eye contact. His phone pinged, and he just knew it was his parents and friggin’ Twitter. He knew there was only so much he could undo and _he_ just wanted to go home...

“Ro…”

“Let’s just get you out of here.”

Virgil nodded. Roman still wanted to be that white knight to scoop him up and carry him away, but right now, they really needed to get Virgil to the hospital.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please grill me for typos.


End file.
